Jennifer Rodríguez - Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Jennifer Rodríguez, MCP President & CEO, Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GPHCC)

For over 20 years, Jennifer has worked to support economic development, wealth creation and empowerment of underrepresented groups at the city, regional and national levels. In her role as the President & CEO of GPHCC, and as the Region 5 Representative at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, she focuses on initiatives that ‘close the gap’ for Latinos in the economy. Her work centers on advocating for the 22,000+ Hispanic-owned businesses in the Philadelphia region and supporting the advancement of Latinx professionals in the corporate sector. She is a founding member of the Diverse Chambers Coalition of Philadelphia and Co-Chair of the Latino Equitable Development Collective in Philadelphia.

Prior to joining GPHCC, Jennifer was Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs, where she championed policies that have earned Philadelphia a national reputation as a welcoming city. She sits on various boards, including the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Association for Public Art, and WHYY. She has been recognized among Philadelphia Business Journal’s Power 100 and is the recipient of various awards, including the NFL’s Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. Jennifer is a frequent guest speaker and commentator on issues related to diversity, inclusion, and equity in the economy. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Boston University and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'm a rain ballot wow with CEOsyou should know, brought to you by
Comcast Business. I am Jennifer Rigs, the President and CEO of the Greater
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Describeyour company and its mission. We are
a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneursin the Latino community grow their business,

(00:22):
scale up, get contracts, andcontribute to the economy. How would you
say your company helps drive the localeconomy? Well, Latinos are amongst the
most entrepreneurial groups in the country andcertainly here in the region and city of
Philadelphia. But our community members doface some systemic and unique challenges, and

(00:44):
we help by advocating for a betterbusiness environment for them, by providing them
with opportunities to get educated and betterskills in order to run their businesses,
and by elevating and promoting Latinos ina number of industries, really elevating the
profile of entrepreneurship in Philadelphia and theregion. That would if you can talk

(01:07):
about the economic power of the Latinocommunity in Philadelphia, Well, there are
twenty two thousand Latino owned businesses inthe region, eighteen thousand of them in
Philadelphia. And the potential is greatin that Latinos tend to be younger than
the general population and they a lotof them having this i would say immigrant

(01:30):
sort of gene in their families andin themselves. They're very resilient and entrepreneurial.
We have a lot of businesses thatare being created on an annual basis.
The challenge that we have is thesebusinesses start smaller and remains smaller even
as they mature when you would expectthem to grow. And here is where
the Hispanic Chamber intervenes. We arehere to accelerate the growth by providing education,

(01:53):
opportunities, resources and network for theseentrepreneurs to really be able to reach
their maximum Are there any philanthropic causesthat your organization supports? So we have
supported in the past. For example, last year at our our annual fundraiser,
we supported Casa Venezuela, who werevery integral and supporting immigrants that were

(02:16):
being bussed and transported from the borderinto Philadelphia and the regions. So that's
something that we have done in thepast. We have worked with youth organizations
and partnered with community college for example, and scholarships with the school district on
providing youth conferences and workshops for youngstudents to learn about business and opportunities in

(02:38):
the sector. Here's the fun question, what would you tell your seventeen year
old self? I would tell myseventeen year old self, when you go
to college, take that year abroad, because the opportunities to spend that much
time in different cultures are going tobecome more scarce as you become older.

(03:01):
And one of the things that Ireally appreciate about the work that I do
here in Philadelphia is really meeting thediversity of communities within the Latino community and
outside. And if I had beento seventeen year old living in Spain or
I don't know, somewhere else,I would have just loved it. And
even more, is there anything elseyou want to add? Now? I

(03:23):
think it's important to know that ourstaff is bilingual, that we have Spanish
only programming as well as English programming. Oftentimes we get asked do you speak
do you speak Spanish? Because thatis the language that business is conducted mostly
in the United States, But we'rebrought to say that we are culturally competent

(03:44):
and by language organization. If peoplewould like more information about the Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce. How did they findout more? You can find the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce by visiting our websiteat Phila Hispanic Chamber dot org or following
us in our social the channels withour handle gbhcc CEOs you should know brought
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(04:11):
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